Silly Lily

Oh, Miss Lily. So full of life and energy. When I was a little girl my uncle gave me the nickname of "Spitfire" because I could have quite the feisty attitude. Well, I think I've passed that down to Lily. She is so full of life and laughter and all out craziness. She loves to laugh and play with her brothers. She whines and begs to be picked up and as soon as you have her she squirms to be put down, and so you put her down and she whines and begs and the cycle goes on and on.

A lot of the ladies at church get a good kick out of her because of her craziness. She loves to turn around on the bench and laugh an talk to the people behind her. She lets out some really loud squeals and yells and she is ALL over the place and I can NEVER get her to sit still. I've devised a plan where we go to sacrament, during Sunday school we stay in the hall the entire time and I let her run off some energy so that that way I can got to Relief Society and get most of the lesson in.

She loves to wag her little finger around and say "stop it." She has even started to sass back in her own little language and I get quite the kick out of it. She also has the most loving side to her. She says "hiiiiiii" in the softest, sweetest, girliest voice ever. It's my absolute favorite thing she says. She also LOVES to give hugs to anyone close to her size and in her proximity. She will crawl up to little kids at church and lean her head on them and try to give them so many loves.

She has 12 teeth and they are so cute and goofy and I love her smile. And if she's being particularly silly she does this face where she smiles and scrunches up her eyes and she looks like Chunck from Goonies.

She has her moments when she can be quite the handful but at other times she is the complete opposite and so easy going, can roam and play and keep herself entertained for hours. Yesterday I went to the bathroom and came out to find this:

Lily covered in peach yogurt and "Mmmmm - Mmmmmming."

Oh Miss Beans, what would we ever do without you? You are crazy and wild, sweet and cuddly, sassy and silly, and we all sure love you!

Toothless?

Jace lost his first tooth on November 11. (I know, I'm so on top of things.) It was discovered several weeks ago that he had a loose tooth, but behind that tooth he already had his permanent tooth growing in, and quite a bit.

So we spent the next few weeks wiggling the tooth and we even tried to pull it, but it wouldn't come. So we went to the dentist worried about over-crowding. Sure enough, the dentist decided to pull it. Jace was lucky enought to have banana flavored laughing gas and they numbed him up, gave him a shot, and pulled the tooth. Thank goodness the dentist and hygenists were awesome and they never mentioned the shot and just told him he was going to get some "sleepy medicine" for his lips and teeth. They popped it out and he was able to take home his first lost tooth in an envelope!

The Tooth Fairy came and left him two dollars, and you would have thought he won the lottery! That Tooth Fairy stuff is hard to remeber to take care of. Thank goodness Lily woke up at 3:45 am or else the Tooth Fairy would have forgot and Jace would have been devestated.

So here's the proud boy with his not-so-much gaping hole.

(He's going to hate me in future years for this picture. :) )

Halloween 2010

The great debate was on this year to as what the kids were going to be. It was that constant changing of their minds as to what they wanted to be. So we sat them down a few weeks before Halloween and MADE them decide.

They decided on Batman and Robin. Jace took the high road and let Cole choose which one he was going to be. Usually, since Jace is older, he would naturally be Batman. However, Cole chose Batman and Jace was just as excited to be Robin. So then of course Lily had to be Cat Woman/ black cat.

And when we go with a theme, we really go with a theme.

We bought Cole's costume and I made Jace's. Lily's was pretty simple to put together, and really I only had to buy the ears. They had so much fun being Batman and Robin! Jace loved his costume, and when he put it on he said, "Mom, I think I look pretty darn awesome."

We did the trunk-or-treat at our ward Saturday night and it started pouring on us. We got home and the boys were soaked and they decided that they didn't want to go out for any more trick-or-treating; so they got in their jammies and stayed home. I love how easy they are! (And so does their dad because that meant he didn't have to go out either.)

Having Halloween on a Sunday was not so fun. Dressing them up for school on Friday, trick-or-treating on Saturday, and a family party on Sunday did me in. Keeping track of all the little pieces of their costumes was annoying and I ended up having to make two masks for Jace because we lost one. Oh, the things you do for your kids.

They had a blast being Batman and Robin, and now they are so excited and are planning their costumes of Harry Potter, Ron, and Hermione for next year.

Look Whooo Turned One!

Lily turned 1 last Saturday, Oct. 2nd. How is it even possible that a year could go by that fast? I have truly enjoyed this past year with having a little girl in our family. She is so full of life and energy, has a smile for anyone. Besides when she is tired, she is always happy. And I mean always.

We celebrated her birthday with family and a few close friends Friday night. It was an owl theme, and it the night turned out perfectly. I went for a girly, whimisical, fall-ish theme.

We had chicken salad sandwiches, fruit, and veggies for dinner.

Dessert was an assortment of vanilla and chocolate owl cupcakes and owl sugar cookies.

Lily had her very own mini owl cake. Thank you Joslyn, for teaching me how to do fondant.

We had a few games for the kids of Pin the Beak on the Owl, Bean Bag Toss (thru the owl's eyes), and Crack the Egg out of the Nest (popping balloons).

Lily received so many fun new GIRL toys: baby dolls, a purse, a tea set, and a stroller. She also received lots of fantastically girly outfits. Who knew it could make me so happy to see little dolls and girl toys laying around the house? The poor girl has been deprived.

Thank you so much to all of our family and friends that came and supported Lily and her first year of life.

Thank you Lindsey, for designing such an adorable birthday invitation and favor tags.

Thank you Karlee, for taking such great pictures for me so that I didn't have to worry about that aspect of the night while trying to entertain the guests.

At the end of the night, Bryan summed it up best when he said, "You know what? We're pretty blessed to have such great family and friends."

Yes, Dear; we are.

Lily, we love you so much and you have added so much joy and happiness to our family. Boy, Sundays would sure be different without you! Happy Birthday, Miss Beans!

Dinner Time Entertainment

This happened a couple of weeks ago, but I thought I would share.

Here is our crazy, loud, and yet adorable, Lily. She truly is a wild woman. She NEVER sits still. I mean NEVER. She likes to make us laugh and she definitely knows how to keep us entertained at dinner.

Kindergarten and Preschool

It's official. I have a kindergartner. And this wasn't easy for me to accept.

Jace started kindergarten on September 1. He was so ready. I thought I was.

I wasn't.

(Standing in front of our back door because the sun was too bright in the front)

I took him to school the first day and had to fight back the tears even before we got there. He was so excited, yet a little nervous and I could tell by the way he would walk around with his arms folded. That's Jace's "nervous twitch" - arms folded across his chest and eyes scanning the ground.

(Playing on the playground with his cute friend, Allie)

(Standing in front of his classroom door)

I did well until he went into his classroom and it was time for me to walk away.

(My friends thought it would be a great idea to take a picture of me crying. Luckily, you can't tell I'm a blubbery mess.)

I cried off and on for the remainder of the day. And if I think about it too much, I still cry.

(Like right now.)

He loves kindergarten so far and it has been fun to have him come home everyday and ask him what he did in class. I get to hear lots of new songs, I find out what kids had to "pull a card" that day, who he played with at recess, and if he earned a "caughtcha."

I have this love/hate relationship with dropping him off at school. I love to see how big and responsible he looks as he slings his backpack over his shoulder and marches his way through the kindergarten gate ready to conquer the world. And yet, I hate to see him so big and independent, knowing that I'm not going to be right there with him to protect him from the harsh reality of this world.

Cole misses his big brother immensely. Multiple times throughout the morning he asks, "When's Jace gonna be home?" He's kind of lost without him. And to be honest, so am I. I've forgotten how to entertain a child. It's been a dream to have Jace and Cole be best friends because they rely on each other for entertainment.

Two days after Jace started school, Cole had to go off and start preschool on me too.


Sheesh.

He, too, is so excited to be going to school. During preschool orientation, a week earlier, he was sitting in front of me while his teacher was going over the rules, when he turned around to me and whispered, "I love this school." He's been waiting for a whole year to be able to go to Teacher Nisha's.

Surprisingly, I didn't have as hard of a time sending Cole to preschool as I thought I would. It was strange to leave him at school, yet fun to see him so ready to go and not be afraid as I thought he would be. He needs this independence.

(Cole on his playground.)

I think I'm having such a hard time with this because I know their childhood is slipping by me so quickly. And I look back over the years and question if I've done enough, played enough with them, made enough memories with them, taught them enough, scolded and yelled too much, enjoyed who they are enough.

So with a new school year, there's a sense of renewal. Here's to loving them more, laughing with them more, reading to them more, yelling less, having more patience, kissing them more, snuggling them more, and reflecting on those moments more.

18 Months of Perks

I may come to regret this post, but I've decided to be honest about life and how it plays out; so here it goes.

I have had the privilege of enjoying some benefits for the last 18 months since the time that I became pregnant with Lily until I finished nursing. I didn't quit nursing by choice, it just so happened that the milk producing department of my body put up the OUT OF ORDER sign.

Since this has happened, it has caused me to reflect on what I've enjoyed over the past year and a half. I know that pregnancy and nursing have a very long list of miserable qualities; however, they also have their own "perks".

When I was pregnant with Lily, Bryan once asked me this question (and while we were in the company of his brother), "Ashlee, do you know what my favorite part about pregnancy is? Pregnancy boobs."

Yes Dear, you are correct. It's the best part for me too.

You see, when my older sister stood in the "Bosom Line" up in heaven, she took her fair share of the amount allotted and then she decided to be greedy and take my amount as well. Nuff said.

So as you can see, pregnancy and nursing end up being a blessing to me in the bosom department. Many women hate the added blessing. Well, not me. I'll take all I can get, thanks.

A couple of other perks relate to Sundays. Two words: FAST SUNDAY. Yep, it's back to fasting full time. Is it bad to say that I didn't miss it? This also means a full three hour block of church. I always was able to cut Sunday school short because Lily was on such a set schedule that feeding time always fell then.

Wow, church sure has gotten a lot longer.

And finally, on one of the greatest perks it brings is the long separation of a certain relative. Yep, that one annoying aunt that brings her presence around once a month. You know that's an aunt that I don't get excited to see at the monthly family reunion. She's the one you run and hide from for as long as possible. She's the one that forces you to pack on a couple of pounds while she's around and you're crabby and not your self until she leaves.

I'd get pregnant tomorrow just to not see her ugly face again.

[Sigh]

I miss the perks.

Especially the perky ones.